Jesus saves by His substitutionary death

John Roberts

Journal-Advocate religion columnist

Posted:
05/02/2014 10:46:59 AM MDT

John Roberts Journal-Advocate religion columnist

Last Friday we took a brief overview of the three atoning aspects of Christ's work of redemption. The classic orthodox understanding of what Jesus did to save sinners is as follows: Jesus is able to save us by His perfect life in fulfillment of God's law, by His substitutionary death under God's wrath, and by His victorious resurrection over all the powers of hell and death.

As noted last Friday, the most central aspect of Jesus' atoning work is His death. The New Testament clearly presents Christ's crucifixion as the key to our salvation.

To see how Christ's death works for us, we first need an accurate biblical view of sin. Beginning with the account of our first parents' sin in the Garden of Eden, and all the way until the Revelation of Christ's return and final reign, Scripture uniformly teaches that sin is rebellion against God and His right to rule our lives.

The depravity of this rebellion is measured not merely by the act of rebellion itself, but also by the nature of Him against Whom it is committed. Because God is eternal and infinite, rebellion against Him is eternal and infinite as well. Let me illustrate.

If you were to punch a friend, your punishment might be as simple as losing that friendship. If you punched a police officer, you'd probably go to jail. If you punched the President, you would spend the rest of your life in a mental institution. In each case, the same act is committed: a punch. But the punishment varies with the authority of the person you punch: the greater their authority, the greater your punishment.

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Sin is rebelling against creation's highest Authority, Who demands infinite and eternal respect. Thus, sin dishonors God infinitely and eternally, and rightly places us under His wrath and the curse of the Law, which is separation from Him. It is this eternal and infinite rebellion that Jesus came to remedy, this wrath He came to suffer, and this curse He came to take.

But why a cross? Couldn't He have suffered God's wrath some other way? Not according to Scripture. God's Word declares "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, as it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.'" (Galatians 3:13). God sovereignly arranged historical circumstances so that His Son would be born into this world "at just the right time" (Galatians 4:4) when Jewish law and Roman cruelty would intersect in such a way that He would be killed not in some random manner, but specifically by crucifixion, "hanging on a tree." God did this to demonstrate that in the death of His Son He was taking from His people the curse they deserved and placing it upon Him. What astonishing love is this, that Jesus was willing to suffer His Father's curse, because He was unwilling for us to suffer it! Our pardon is provided by His punishment. When we repent of our sin and trust Christ, the curse of the Law and penalty for sin are removed from us and placed upon Christ, our Substitute.

The glorious and astounding benefit of this substitution is that we are no longer under God's wrath. Irish poet Charitie Lees Bancroft wrote of this miracle:

Because the sinless Saviour died,

My sinful soul is counted free,

For God the just is satisfied

To look on Him and pardon me.

Do you know His pardon? Do you trust that Christ's substitutionary death provides everything God required to remove His wrath from you and grant you the salvation you could never earn on your own? If not, I plead with you to come to Christ today in humble repentance, and place your trust in what He did to save you forever.

Next Week: Jesus Saves By His Righteous Life

John Roberts is the longtime pastor of First Baptist Church in Sterling.

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